Minimum Wage: Muslim Congress backs NLC

At its Quarterly State of the Nation briefing, TMC National AbdulWasiu Bamgbala said Nigerian workers definitely deserve a rise in their take-home having been on the receiving end for so long in our chequered history.

He said: “The long-suffering workers deserve every comfort they can get in order to live a more comfortable and less-stressful life. In 2011, the National Minimum Wage Act set workers’ wage at N18,000 per month and to be revised every five years. An upward review is therefore justified by the fact that the cost of living has increased considerably.”

Bamgbala urged the Federal government to continue its dialogue with the stakeholders in order to arrive at a figure that will ease the daily burdens of the Nigerian workers.

He said: “That amount should also be in consultation with the states especially owing from the fact that most of the states are already defaulting in paying the N18,000 minimum wage. But more importantly, governments at all levels must speed up the development of public infrastructure and also step up financial inclusion. These two steps will further complement the increase in minimum wage to make life more meaningful for the people. The organised labour should also show understanding and ensure that the laudable agitation does not lead to the breakdown of services across the sectors.

“The state governors need to block all leakages especially wasteful spending to meet the workers’ demands. A situation whereby state governor having over 150 aides is not healthy for the polity and should be looked into. Some of these governors need to be prudent in the way they spend public funds.”

The congress scribe hailed the Federal Government for approving N22 billion as payment for retirement benefits to former workers of the liquidated Nigeria Airways Limited.

“This amounts to about 50 percent of the N45 billion entitlements for the former workers of the company. The workers have suffered the injustice of not receiving their retirement benefits for about 15years.